Blackwake Manor: A Weiss Halloween Fic
by Deena
Summary: The latest Weiss mission is to go poking around in a haunted house *humour, gore, shonen ai*
1. Default Chapter Title

  
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Blackwake Manor  
Part One  
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic  
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)  
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Yohji and I really didn't want to do this mission and we probably would   
have stayed home if Manx hadn't insisted that this was a job for the   
four of us. Damn her. Her glare was almost as cold as Aya's and it   
effortlessly put a stop to all our complains. Instead, Yohji and I just   
grumbled to ourselves.   
  
If anything, I thought Omi would protest but he happily agreed,   
darting off to do research on his computer. Well I suppose it shouldn't   
have surprised me. The kid was surprisingly rational and had a head for   
logic. Aya, of course, voiced no objection. I don't think that anything   
could scare that guy.   
  
So that's the scenario. Yohji and I scared shitless and trying   
desperately to hide it, Aya and Omi cool as ever and scoffing at us. We   
knew that they knew we were scared and they knew that we knew that   
they knew. Confusing right? Well I wasn't going to admit for the world   
that I was scared and neither was Yohji. A man's gotta keep his pride   
afterall.  
  
Yohji covered his fear up by lamenting loudly about the hot date he   
was missing. I peppered the cold night up with rants of how many bad   
guys I was gonna kill and how justice would be served. It pretty much   
fit my image since I was, as Aya had once put it, 'a hot-tempered,   
impulsive idiot.' Well *excuse* me, icicle of the Arctic tundra. As if he   
was such a paragon of human virtue.   
  
I mean just 'cause a guy is attractive, all pale and cool and mysterious,   
doesn't mean he can treat the rest of us, we who are *not* pale and   
cool and mysterious, like a sack of shit. Friggin' arrogant bastard.  
  
I glared at the back of his head and then at Omi's too. If both of   
them were so damn fearless, why didn't they just do the stupid mission   
by themselves? It wasn't fair!  
  
Suddenly Aya and Omi stopped.  
  
"This is the place," Aya said blandly.  
  
We were standing before a huge, iron gate, the words 'BLACKWAKE   
MANOR' scribbled out in sprawling letters. The iron name was rusted,   
giving the words a bloody appearance. Behind the gate lay an enormous   
mansion, all black and dark. It was sort of spooky house that every   
third-rate horror film portrayed. About three stories high with thick   
tendrils of ivy clinging to the rotting walls, windows dirty and broken.   
  
A gust of wind chose that moment to shriek and the gate flew open,   
it's creaky hinges wailing. Misty gray clouds parted to reveal a full   
moon and in the distance some sort of nocturnal animal howled.  
  
Screw pride.  
  
I was running back towards the car in a nanosecond, Yohji hot on my   
heels, our yelps of terror drowning out the wind and the rusty gate and   
the crying animals.  
  
Omi hurled himself on Yohji, the lanky blond falling flat on his face,   
with the kid straddling him.  
  
"GET OFFA ME YOU DAMN BRAT!!!"  
  
Aya grabbed me by the shoulders.  
  
"Ahhhh! Lemmegolemmegolemmego!!!!"  
  
"Stop screaming!" Omi yelled. "You two are acting like babies!"  
  
I struggled furiously. "I'm telling you, I'm not going in there!"  
  
"Me either!" Yohji spit up dirt. "My face is getting muddy! Get off me   
now Omi!"  
  
I didn't mean to hurt Aya. Really I didn't. Sure the guy can be a moody   
dork at times but I do like him. Kinda. Well that's to say, I couldn't   
hurt him on purpose. But in all the thrashing I was doing, frantically   
trying to get him to let go of me, I forgot I was wearing my claw. I   
accidentally scratched his face a good one.  
  
"OWWWW~!!!!!!!!"   
  
By far, that was the loudest cry of the night.  
  
"Uh...oops."  
  
"Aya kun!" Omi rushed to his side. "Are you okay?"  
  
He was holding his cheek with one hand, bloody dripping out from   
between his fingers. "You clumsy ass!" Violet eyes glared daggers at   
me.  
  
I flinched as I sheathed my claws. "It was an accident." I felt sorry,   
really I did, but at least he wasn't trying to restrain me anymore.   
What was that saying about every grey cloud having a silver lining?  
  
Yohji slid up to me. "You injured him, good one! Now let's make our   
getaway!"  
  
I looked over at the other two members of Weiss. Omi was standing on   
his tiptoes, pressing a hankie to Aya's face. Guilt washed over me. "We   
can't just leave them here! I scratched Aya!"  
  
Yohji snorted and gestured to the house. It stood there in all its   
sinister glory, waiting to devour our innocent flesh like the evil demon   
it was. Sometimes a vivid picture was more than enough to overcome   
the guilty dispositions of the mind.  
  
"I'm with ya, Yotan."  
  
We made a break for it.  
  
Two minutes, one jumping and five bruises later, Yohji and I slogged   
back towards the gate with Omi leading the way. Aya was behind us,   
katana drawn.  
  
Let it not be said that Yohji and I didn't fight for what we believed in.   
I mean, is it our fault if Aya's katana is stronger than our will?  
  
The gate was still swinging wildly, the bottom of it scraping loudly   
against the asphalt. Omi marched up to it and shoved it open, holding it   
back for us. "Come on."  
  
Yohji looked at me. "You first," he graciously invited.  
  
"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it," I quickly replied. "You first."  
  
"No, no, little ones first."  
  
"Don't be absurd. You first. I insist."  
  
"No you first. *I* insist!"  
  
"Dammit I said that I insist!"  
  
"Well I said that I insist too!"  
  
The sharp point of Aya's katana nudged my back. "You go first Ken,"   
the redhead growled.  
  
I cursed him in my mind. He hated me, I knew it. Just because I   
punched him in the face that one time...  
  
"Come on Ken kun," Omi coaxed, hanging off the gate. "We've faced   
much more dangerous things then this silly, old house."  
  
"But it's a *haunted* house!"  
  
That's right. If you hadn't already figured it out, our mission was to go   
poking through this old English mansion. People had been complaining   
about it and so Persia had shoved the task to us. Stupid Persia. Why   
the hell didn't he do this mission himself? Where was the justice in   
making us do it? I'll bet the guy was at home, reclining in his easy chair   
with Manx fawning all over him. It's at times like this that I realize   
life stinks.   
  
"GO!" Aya's voice was ice-laden, punctuated by a sharp jab of his   
katana.  
  
I hurried forward, my knees shaking.  
  
The driveway was made of cobblestone that was broken and crumbling.   
It snaked up to the house, edged with trees and shrubbery lining   
either side. The lawn that lay on either side of the driveway was an   
absolute mess, overrun with knee high weeds and grass. In the middle   
of the right side, I could see a fractured fountain of a lady holding a   
vase, grass springing out from the numerous cracks. The left lawn was   
covered with eerie looking trees and a mushy, overgrown pond.  
  
I stumbled over a bit of uneven pavement. It was a sign. A sign of the   
doom that was to come. Oh Lord, I was really getting freaked now!  
  
Behind us, the gate smashed shut with a loud groan.  
  
"We're stuck in here!" I howled, jumping a mile.  
  
"I'm too young to die!" Yohji moaned, joining in. "There are still too   
many beautiful girls who want to date me!"  
  
Omi looked annoyed. He hated when Yohji talked about girls and   
dating, mostly because he had a crush on the older blond. My keen   
sense of in-depth personality evaluation had led me to deduce that   
*ages* ago. Well that and the fact that I'd accidentally found an old   
delivery receipt with Omi + Yohji scribbled all over it. It rather cute   
actually.   
  
"The faster we search through this house, the faster we can go home,"   
Aya put in.  
  
Well that was exactly the sort of logic I appreciated. Yohji too, for as   
I darted forward, he was right beside me.  
  
"A quick look around and then we can blow this dump," he muttered to   
me.  
  
I nodded. "We're Weiss. Of course we can handle a dumb mission like   
this."  
  
And that's when the unthinkable happened. A slimy, bony hand reached   
out and grabbed me!  
  
"Aahhhhhhhh!!!! Help!!! A monster's got me!!!!!"  
  
"Oh God no!!! Save Ken!!!!!!!"  
  
"That's a tree branch moron," Aya informed me calmly, unhooking the   
said branch from my jacket.  
  
Oh.  
  
Omi started to laugh. "You guys are so lame!"  
  
Aya threw me a disgusted look, not condescending to say anything. He   
merely strode off, Omi following close behind, still laughing.  
  
"It was an easy mistake to make," Yohji assured me supportively.  
  
"It was a false alarm this time but it won't be next time." I shivered,   
pulling my jacket tighter around me.  
  
As quietly as we could, we tiptoed after Aya and Omi, keeping our eyes   
open for any unwanted visitors from the supernatural realm. With the   
moon as our only light source, it was hard to be on top of things.   
Especially since we were surrounded by so many skeletal trees and   
droopy bushes that cast shadows on everything.  
  
We slinked forward, inch after deteriorating asphalt inch, and when a   
sudden rustling noise in a nearby bush cleaved through the night air,   
we grabbed at each other.  
  
A rat scurried out, narrowing missing our feet and disappeared into   
the grass.  
  
I looked at Yohji. He looked at me. Simultaneously, we broke into a full   
run, speeding down the remainder of the ruined driveway and up the   
broken stairs where Aya and Omi were casually lounging.  
  
The top of the stairs were flanked by two imposing, ugly gargoyle   
statues. Two more gargoyles peered down at us from their position   
atop the door.  
  
"We didn't think you were going to make it," Omi remarked, barely   
containing his laughter.  
  
Yohji glared at him while raking a shaky hand through his hair. "Shut   
up brat!"  
  
I turned to Aya with the newfound knowledge that I *loathed*   
gargoyles. "Please, please, pleeeeese can we go home?" I implored   
desperately. At this point, I was not above begging.  
  
Aya stared at me. "What happened to all the bad guys you were going   
to kill and all the evil you were going to dispel?" he asked in a flat tone.  
  
What a jerk he was, bringing that up at a time like this! "Bad guys are   
a whole different story from supernatural forces of evil!" I retorted.   
Some smart leader Aya was. Anyone knew that!  
  
Suddenly Yohji seized hold of my hand. "That gargoyle just blinked at   
me!"   
  
"Oh jeeze," Omi moaned, rubbing at his forehead. "Gimme a break."  
  
I clung to Yohji, wishing he was fatter. The more mass he had, the   
more I could cling to. There was safety in blubber, wasn't there? I   
tried vainly not to look at any of the gargoyle statues. I didn't want to   
see those vile creature of the night blink at me.  
  
"Oh come on!" Aya snapped, impatiently. "Let's get inside!"  
  
I looked at the door. It was utterly gigantic, made of solid wood and   
carved with intricately freaky designs like skulls and ugly monster   
heads and flames. It did nothing to reassure me. There was no   
doorbell, which naturally I'd expected. Instead there was a heavy   
metal knocker.  
  
"Guess we'll have to knock," Omi said as he reached out to grab the   
knocker.  
  
His assistance wasn't required because the door opened BY ITSELF!!!!  
  
Now let me tell you that when you're in the safety of your home,   
sitting on the sofa, eating popcorn and watching a movie where a door   
to a haunted house opens by itself, it's easy to say, 'Oh that was   
dumb' or 'How unoriginal' or 'That's lame'. In reality however, it's as   
scary as fuck! Even Aya and Omi looked surprised.  
  
Both Yohji and I yelped and held onto each other for dear life. I was   
taking no chances!!!  
  
"It was obviously the wind," Omi explained, casting us a pitying look.  
  
"How the frig does the wind blow open a heavy oak door?" Yohji   
demanded, hugging me tightly.  
  
"Who the hell cares about that!!!" Aya snarled furiously. "Come on!" He   
scowled at us and entered the house with Omi.  
  
Yohji and I meekly followed, still clinging to each other.  
  
The smell of mold and rotting wood and evil and death greeted us. Omi   
pulled out a flashlight and shone it around. Sprawled out before us was   
a huge staircase, covered with thick, red carpet. Portraits of sinister   
looking people lined the walls on either side of the staircase. At the   
top of the stairs was a small landing, before the stairs turned to go up.   
Above the landing was a large, broken window, a suit of armor standing   
before it.  
  
To the left and to the right of us were sizeable rooms, white sheets   
covering the furniture. Dust blanketed all uncovered furniture and   
cobwebs liberally decorated corners and doors and various other   
surfaces.  
  
"It's not too late to go!" I whispered, anxiously looking around for signs   
of the devil. "This place reeks of pure evil!"  
  
"Stop being so melodramatic," Aya ordered, annoyed. "We're not   
leaving and that's final!"  
  
"Hey, what's that noise?" Omi suddenly asked.  
  
Yohji and I froze. "What noise?" we gasped in unison.  
  
Aya rolled his eyes. "It's their teeth chattering."  
  
Omi giggled. "Are you guys really so scared of this stupid, old house?"  
  
I clenched my teeth together and didn't bother to dignify that absurd   
question with an answer.  
I wondered who I wanted to strangle more, Aya or Omi. No, Persia. I   
definitely wanted to kill Persia first. This was all his fault, that lazy   
arse! I could be at home watching a soccer game right now. It was   
Italy vs. Argentina, dammit!  
  
Suddenly the heavy door behind us banged shut. There was a tense   
moment of silence.  
  
"We're doomed!" Yohji hollered, his voice echoing off the filthy   
chandeliers above us, around the many once-elegant tables and mirrors   
and off the grimy marble floor.  
  
"That was definitely the wind," Omi muttered to no one in particular.  
  
Yohji and I shared a look. It most certainly was *not*!!!  
  
"We're wasting time standing around," Aya barked, gracing us all with a   
steamy glare.  
  
Omi nodded in agreement. "This place will take a while to search out.   
Why don't we split up and look around?"  
  
Now anyone with any brains who's ever watched a horror film knows   
*never* to split up. Someone *always* gets killed that way!!!  
  
"No way!" Yohji and I cried together, again.  
  
Another glare, this one hotter than the last. "We're splitting up and   
that's final!"  
  
Our gracious leader had spoken. If that was final than that was final. I   
let go of Yohji and leeched onto Aya's arm. "I'm going with Aya!"  
  
Yohji grabbed the redhead's other arm. "No I am!"  
  
Apparently both of us had the same idea. I mean if you had a choice   
between the moody guy with the sword or the genki kid with the darts,   
who would you choose?  
  
"LET GO OF ME!!!!!!"  
  
Whoa.   
  
We let go of him in a flash.  
  
Omi hastily jumped between us and a decidedly pissed off Aya. They   
were right, redheads really *do* have the worst tempers. "Come on   
Yohji kun, I'll protect you," Omi wheedled in a sweet voice.  
  
"Fine, Ken comes with me then!" Aya grate out, his temper on the   
verge of breaking.   
  
YES!!! I was gonna live!  
  
I hid behind Aya and gloated.  
  
"We'll meet back here in an hour," Aya stated, snapping into   
'commanding leader' mode.  
  
"Unless we're dead," Yohji muttered.  
  
"No one is gonna die!" Omi burst out, exasperated. "Stop being so   
pessimistic!"  
  
"Ken and I will take the top two floors," Aya continued, ignoring the   
byplay between Omi and Yohji. "You two search this floor and the   
basement."  
  
"Why do we have to do the basement?" Yohji cried in horror.   
"Everyone knows that the labs where mad scientists concoct foul   
concoctions and resurrect evil demons are hidden in the basement!"  
  
Omi sighed deeply. "Let's just get this over with, okay?" He snatched   
Yohji's wrist and dragged him away, the older blond protesting loudly   
all the while.  
  
Aya turned and stalked up the stairs, his boots making prints in the   
thick dust.  
  
I scrambled after him, struggling not to look around. I did *not* want   
to look into the face of pure evil.  
  
Aya took the steps two at a time, confidence marking his stance, his   
trench coat swishing coolly around him, katana firmly clasped in one   
hand. No one would dare mess with him, that's for sure.  
  
I, on the other hand, was an obvious choice for evildoers to wreak   
havoc upon. I trudged warily up the stairs, clinging to the banister,   
struggling not to trip over the stairs in fear. Against my will, because   
let's face it, innocents are always made to do things against their will   
in spooky, haunted houses, I found myself looking at the portraits that   
hung on the wall.  
  
A row of pale, gaunt faces glared down at me. All the people were all   
dressed in somber colors like blacks and grays, sitting stiffly upon   
what appeared to be a throne. The kind of throne that a devil would sit   
upon while ordering the slaughter of innocents. I came to the   
conclusion that they were all wicked.   
  
One painting in particular caught my eye and I froze. It was of a man,   
with black hair that fell roguishly over his forehead. He was younger   
than the rest, perhaps in his early twenties. It was his eyes that really   
got to me, they were a pale yellow color and shone in the dark, almost   
as if they were glowing.   
  
I swallowed thickly and they moved. Honest to fucking goodness, those   
yellow eyes *moved*. They turned and looked at me, smoldering   
ominously.  
  
Well I wasn't going to hang around and see if the rest of the guy   
moved too. I bounded up the remaining steps and hurled myself onto   
Aya, who was standing on the landing beside the suit of armor, waiting   
for me.  
  
"What now?" he snarled, trying to pull my arms off his neck.  
  
I was shaking violently. "That guy in the painting moved! He fucking   
looked at me Aya!!!!" I buried my face into Aya's shoulder and   
whimpered.  
  
"It's all in your imagination," he barked, vexed. "Now get off me!"   
  
I was unprepared for the force of his shove. Afterall, Aya is a pretty   
thin guy. He looks anorexic to me most of the time. Who knew he could   
push so hard?  
  
And of course, since the God of Fate have conspired to make me the   
ultimate clumsy killers, I promptly careened into the suit of armor   
that graced the landing. I crashed to the gritty carpet in a heap of   
Knight clothing, my legs entangled in the heavy lance, my left arm   
stuffed into the helmet and one thigh piece stuck to my head. It was a   
true Hidaka Ken moment.  
  
I didn't stop screeching, even when Aya fished me out from the metal   
parts and blasted his glare of doom at me. I didn't care. I had just   
seen a painting look at me and now my ass hurt! This sucked shit!   
  
"Why can't you be more careful?" Aya demanded, yanking me to my   
feet.  
  
"Well maybe you shouldn't have pushed me!" I retorted, angrily.  
  
"Well maybe you shouldn't have hurled yourself on me!"  
  
"Well maybe that painting shouldn't have rolled his eyes around and   
looked at me!"  
  
Aya scowled as he turned and headed up the next flight of stairs.   
"You're being foolish."  
  
I clambered after him, not wanting to fall victim to anymore paintings   
who wanted to do me in. "Persia was foolish to give us this dumb   
mission," I grumbled.  
  
Aya halted at the top of the stairs. I seized his hand and looked   
around in all directions. "We're safe for the time being," I assured   
him.  
  
He rolled his eyes but thankfully didn't pull his hand away. "Baka."  
  
The hallway was long and dark and seemed to stretch out endlessly.  
  
"Tell me you have a flashlight," I whispered nervously.  
  
"I don't," he replied curtly.  
  
"Oh great," I moaned. "After all this time of killing bad guys and   
surviving, we end up at death's door in this damn house. Isn't there   
some kind of irony in all this?"  
  
"Just shut up!"  
  
Aya started to move forward and I followed him, because afterall I   
had a death-grip on his hand. He may have been a jerk but I did feel   
safe with him. And he had excellent vision in the dark.  
  
"Look, there's a candle on that table," he murmured, gesturing to a   
small table that stood beside the door to the first room on the left.  
  
I squinted. A red candle sitting in a brass candleholder. "Aya no," I   
cried frantically. "We can't use their demonic implements!"  
  
"Would you rather go gallivanting all around this house in the dark?"  
  
I thought about it, for one second. Hell no!!! And besides, Aya was   
wearing gloves. That would offer some protection, right? Unless the   
candle was acid dipped...  
  
He grabbed the candle before I could warn him. He dug out a book of   
matched from his pocket and lit the candle. A soft, eerie glow   
illuminated the corridor.   
  
Absently I happened to glance into the mirror that hung on the wall   
behind the table that the candle had been resting upon.  
  
"ARGH~!!!!!!"  
  
"Oh what now?!!" Aya erupted, whirling around and glowering furiously   
at me.  
  
With a shaky finger, I pointed at the mirror. "I have no reflection!   
I've been turned into a vampire!!!"  
  
"You damned idiot!" He bit out scathingly. In one fluid movement, he   
strode up to the mirror and slid a slender, gloved-finger across the   
surface. "It's dust! You can't see your reflection because the mirror is   
dusty!!! You're not a damn vampire and there is no evil in this stupid   
house!!! Now shut the hell up before I kill you!!!!"  
  
Jeeze. Temper, temper. I opened my mouth to tell him that he should   
watch his temper because it could lead to early heart troubles but   
after seeing the look on his face, I decided against it.  
  
Well exCUse me Aya-fucking-stick-shoved-up-the-ass-Fujimiya. Was it   
my fault if this junky moth-hole set my nerves on edge?  
  
"Come on!!!"  
  
I didn't care if he was upset or not, I still stuck to him like those rabid   
schoolgirls at the shop stuck to me as we entered the first room. It   
was some kind of child's playroom, filled with chests of toys. But not   
modern toys like Barbie dolls and Spiderman action figures but instead   
things like rocking horses and rag dolls and wooden soldiers. There was   
a table stacked with books, old, yellowed books with titles like 'Peter   
and Jane Go' and 'Mary Beth makes a cake' and 'Author's pet dog'.   
Real old stuff that no kid would learn from today.  
  
Aya lifted the candle and it shone upon a painting of two little blond   
girls. They were both clad in white, lacy dresses, pink ribbons adorning   
their curls. Fear was painted their faces, their saddened eyes   
captured for all eternity. Behind them loomed a threatening shadow.  
  
"You can't tell me this isn't creepy," I muttered, tearing my eyes away   
from the picture.  
  
"Hn."  
  
I took another look around when something caught my eye. "Aya, over   
there," I managed to croak, my voice suddenly hoarse.  
  
He led me to a rocking chair in the corner where two yellowed, lacy   
dresses sat. They were easily recognized as the frocks the little girls   
in the painting were wearing. Only these dresses were tarnished with   
huge, rust-colored stains that covered both bodices.  
  
Aya took a step closer. "Stabbed," he whispered, softly. "See the little   
rents in the fabric? They were stabbed."  
  
"And then someone laid their dresses out..." I covered my mouth,   
utterly horrified.   
  
"Ken..." He looked at me and gently took my hand.  
  
I shuddered. "How could...why would..."  
  
"Don't think about it." He pulled me close to him.  
  
"Now...now d-do you believe me?" I stammered, still staring at the   
bloody dresses. "There is something evil going on here!"  
  
At that moment, as if to mark my words, music began to play. Aya and   
I both whirled around. There, on the table beside the stacks of   
withered books, sat a porcelin Merry-go-around. The hollow-sounding   
carnival music filled the room as the pink and blue and white horses   
bobbed up and down.  
  
I felt a shiver run through Aya's body. Tight-lipped, he dragged me   
from the room.  
  



	2. Default Chapter Title

***************************************  
Blackwake Manor  
Part Two  
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic  
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)  
***************************************  
  
The first room they set foot into was a living room of sorts. All the   
furniture was covered with white sheets and it was cold, the wind   
whistling in through the broken window. Omi shone the flashlight   
around the room, setting light to the faded, peeling wall paper and   
grimy paintings.  
  
"Nope, nothing in here," Yohji quickly evaluated. "Let's head on to the   
next room."  
  
"Yohji kun!" Omi glared at him. "We have to search all the rooms   
carefully! Do want Persia to send us back here a second time?"  
  
A second time? Fuck no! Nervously, he glanced around. There didn't   
seem to be anything that looked suspicious. Of course, that was   
assuming that he was taking everything at face value, which he most   
assuredly was not.  
  
He took a step back and staggered over the edge of the rug. He fell   
backwards onto the sofa, great hoards of dust billowing up all over the   
place.  
  
"Aaahhhh!! It's an evil swarm of mad bees!!!! Heeeellllllpppp-  
ACHOOOO!" Yohji sneezed violently.  
  
Omi quickly yanked the older boy into a standing position. "It's just   
dust, Yohji kun," he explained, stifling his giggles. "Here." He handed   
Yohji some tissues.  
  
After six consecutive sneezes, Yohji was more than ready to go. They   
trekked to the next room, another living room. It was pretty much the   
same as the first room. Covered furniture, moldy smell, dust galore.  
  
Yohji carefully avoided all furniture and stayed very close to Omi,   
much to the younger boy's delight.  
  
"Nothing in this room either," Omi declared after a few minutes of   
searching. "I suppose we can-" he broke off, seeing Yohji staring at   
something. "Yohji kun? What is it?"  
  
He yanked the flashlight from Omi's hand. "Over there." He shone the   
beam upon the fireplace that dominated the right side of the room. On   
the stone tiles before the hearth lay a metal poker. Impaled upon the   
poker was...something.  
  
With a sudden desire to protect the younger boy, Yohji wrapped one   
lanky arm around the boy's slim waist and drew him close. Cautiously   
they approached the fireplace.  
  
Now that they were closer, they could see that the object was human   
shaped. It was about the size of a hand and made from cream-colored   
cloth. The crude doll had black X's made of yarn for eyes and a twisted   
piece of red yarn for a mouth. Fine blond hair was stitched to its head.   
The left side of the doll was ripped open and what appeared to be a   
bone was pushing out. The poker stabbed the doll straight through the   
middle and the surrounding cloth was tinted a dull red, almost as if the   
doll had actually bled.  
  
"A voodoo doll," Yohji whispered, chills streaking up his spine. "With   
real human hair and human bone. I'll bet that's even real human blood."  
  
Omi reached for the doll. "Here let me-"  
  
Yohji jerked him back violently. "Are you crazy?" he hissed. "Who   
knows what the fuck that thing can do! Don't you dare touch it! I'm   
don't want anything to happen to you!"  
  
The younger boy blushed in the dark, pleased that even though Yohji   
was scared, he was still looking out for him. "Wakatta."  
  
They hurriedly left the room and made it to the next room. It was a   
dining room and everything was uncovered. Lavish mahogany china   
cabinets were stocked full of elegant china dishes. A dusty chandelier   
hung above the enormous dining table. It easily could have seated   
about twenty people. The whole table was set, once gleaming silver and   
china now caked with dirt and time.   
  
"There's wine in the glasses," Omi pointed out quietly. "It's like   
everyone vanished before they could eat."  
  
"Let's move on," Yohji responded hastily. "This room is really giving me   
the creeps."  
  
Omi nodded. He felt the chilly vibes also. Both of them rushed out of   
the room, failing to notice the soggy mass of rotting flesh that was   
drooling out from behind the maroon brocade curtains.  
  
The music room proved to be nothing more than a pile of dusty   
instruments, books and sheet music laying carelessly about. No strange   
instances of sin were asserting themselves so Yohji and Omi took that   
to mean this room was safe. There was a bit of a scare when Yohji   
accidentally bumped into the piano, sharp keys screeching suddenly.  
  
Omi chuckled nervously as Yohji swore and hauled him off.  
  
The kitchen proved to be another story.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The next few bedrooms were relatively normal. Aya was protecting me   
thoroughly now. He held me close to him and he'd scan the room for   
any abnormalities holding the candle away from me so that I couldn't   
see. It was no secret that I loved children and seeing those bloody   
dresses...I shuddered again.  
  
Aya's hand tightened around me. I guess that was his way of trying to   
reassure me. But at this point, I don't think I could be reassured. I   
mean, that fucking merry-go-round had played all by itself!   
  
My body was suddenly cold, icy shivers dancing along my spine. I knew   
that there was going to be something horrible in the next room, I   
could feel it.  
  
Aya must have sensed it also because he turned to me. "Stay close to   
me, alright?"  
  
I nodded, letting go to his hand to cling to his arm. He handed me the   
candle and drew his katana. Seeing the buttery light shine off the   
metal comforted me somehow.   
  
Aya kicked open the door and the stale stench of vomity blood clotting   
washed over us.   
  
I gagged and Aya held his breath. We entered and I held the candle   
high, my heartbeat crashing vehemently against my chest.  
  
It was a lady's chamber, decorated in hues of pink and lavender and   
white, flowers printed on the thick carpet and upon the walls. The   
dresser was laden with jars and bottle of various cosmetics, as well as   
hairbrushes and ribbons and hand mirrors. In front of the dresser was   
a white chair and upon it was draped an old-fashioned petticoat. It   
must have been white at one time but now it was yellow with age. The   
hem was ripped off, leaving the garment jaggedly torn.  
  
With a drowning sense of terror, I reluctantly raised the candle to   
glow upon the bed.  
  
It was awful. Beyond awful. I cried out, dropping the candle as horror   
puddled deep in my gut. The flame was extinguished and we were   
plunged into blessed darkness. But the image still burned brightly in   
my mind.  
  
On the bed, vulgarly sprawled out upon the flowered coverlet was a   
rotting corpse. It had once been a women, for she was clad in a white   
petticoat similar to the torn one draped over the chair near the   
dresser. She'd been decapitated, blood splattered thickly over the   
pillow where her head would have rested. Her decomposing arms hung   
limply over the sides of the bed, her legs nothing more than sticks of   
bone, coated with drying tissue. And near the bottom of her stomach   
gaped a large, bloody hole. Spewing out from it was a long, thin rope of   
flesh, a curved blob attached to it.   
  
An umbilical cord with the fetus still joined to it.  
  
I barely made it out of the room before I fell to my knees and vomited   
all over the mucky carpet. Everything that I'd ever eaten was coming   
out and tears stung at my eyes. What kind of place was this? Who   
would desecrate a pregnant woman like that?   
  
Aya knelt down beside me, the relit candle burning dimly in his hand.   
He set it down and tenderly brushed my bangs away from my sweaty   
forehead. He said nothing as he stroked my back, showing more   
kindness in that one instant than he'd ever shown me before.   
  
Finally I finished, coughing weakly. Dizzily I managed to stand, with   
Aya's help.  
  
"Are you okay?" he asked me softly, his arm wrapped firmly around my   
waist.   
  
I laughed woodenly. "You must think I'm so weak. I really am-"  
  
"Don't," he interrupted, his hand coming up to brush against my lips.   
"You and Yohji were right. This place is evil. But I won't let anything   
happen to you, Ken. I promise."  
  
I nodded, wishing I had some water to get rid of the sour taste in my   
mouth. "I just hope Omi and Yohji are okay."  
  
"They'll be fine and so will we. You understand that, right Ken?" His   
gloved hand cupped my chin, forcing me to meet dark plum eyes. "We   
have to finish searching this house. We don't want any innocent people   
to come here and get hurt."  
  
"I understand."  
  
His mouth curved slightly. "I knew you would."  
  
The silence was thick and foreboding, shattered only by the soft   
thumping of our feet against the carpet.   
  
I felt a hundred pairs of eyes watching us as we entered the library.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Omi marched towards the room after the music room, still smiling over   
Yohji banging into the piano and scaring himself silly. Both he and Ken   
were acting so scared and it really was funny! He hadn't realized that   
Yohji and Ken were so superstitious. Ken, he could understand but   
Yohji? That seemed weird. He hadn't thought that anything could   
scare the older boy.   
  
But he wasn't complaining. If it kept Yohji close to him, then he was   
happy! He'd had a crush on the playboy for ages now and even though   
he was only protecting him, Omi still liked it. So for now, voodoo dolls   
or not, he was going to savor the moment.  
  
"Keep close to me," Yohji ordered, scouring the hall.  
  
Omi's smile grew just a little bit bigger. "Hai."  
  
They crossed into the kitchen as Yohji shone the flashlight around.   
Omi gasped loudly and Yohji nearly dropped the flashlight.  
  
The kitchen was nothing like a modern kitchen. There were no modern   
luxuries like a fridge or microwave or even a stove. There was a brick   
fireplace tucked on one end, a huge black pot hanging above piles of   
coals and ashes. The counters and cupboards were made of rotting   
wood and rats were scurrying here and there. A long table stood in the   
middle of the room, masses of molding food clinging to the wooden   
surface. On the far edge of the table were four chopping boards   
neatly lying side by side.  
  
On the first board was a scattered pile of shredded papers and an ink   
jar. The second board was a bloody mess and resting in the middle of   
the viscous liquid was a human brain. Numerous needles were   
protruding from the fleshy, pink mass. Upon the third board was a   
wooden cross wrapped in thorns. Scores of little, black bugs were   
weaving their way through the thorns and feasting upon the fleshy   
wood. And finally, the bones of what appeared to have been a cat   
graced the last board.  
  
Omi turned away in absolute revulsion. "Yohji kun..."  
  
Yohji didn't waste a second. He hauled himself and his little teammate   
the high holy hell outta there.  
  
The younger boy was shaking violently, his body a mass of tremors.   
Blue eyes were opened wide, his body numb with shock. "I didn't   
see...that couldn't have..."  
  
"This is something evil here," Yohji stated grimly. "And I've got the   
feeling that this is only the beginning." He laced his fingers through   
Omi's. "We'll tough it out together, 'kay kid?"  
  
Omi had to swallow a number of times before he could reply. And even   
then, his voice was still raspy.   
  
A faint scratching sound came from the tiny area beside the kitchen.   
It was a pantry, the wooden shelves crammed full with jars and bottles   
of food.  
  
"Looks normal in here," Yohji muttered quickly, turning to go.  
  
Omi seized Yohji's wrist, forcing the flashlight to beam towards the   
top shelf on the right. A row of large jars sat alongside each other.   
Each contained a watery-yellow liquid and a various type of organ or an   
animal. In the first was a mushy human heart, blue veins protruding,   
aorta and superior vena cave still intact. The next was a pair of sullen   
green eyes, staring brokenly eternally. A bat with its wings spread out   
was in the third, a blue snake in the forth. So on and so on, each jar   
holding a more repulsive object than the last.  
  
In the last jar came the scratching sound. A pair of slender, wan   
female hand were suspended in the thin liquid, a diamond ring still on   
one finger. Long nails were painted crimson and slowly, steadily the   
hands were scratching the glass.  
  
"Oh God..." Omi whispered, staring in fascinated terror.  
  
And then, all at once, things came to life. The eyes blinked, the heart   
pumped. Bat wings spread, the snake hissed. Lips quivered, lungs   
expanded, bones bent.  
  
"They're still alive," Yohji muttered in disbelief.   
  
Outside the wind screamed like the dead and both blonds jumped. It   
didn't take them too long to flee.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
The library was absolutely freezing. The huge window on the left side   
of the room was broken and the cold night wind was rushing in, the   
tattered curtains flapping violently. Shelves lined all the walls, stuffed   
fully with leather bound, dusty books. There were a couple of   
armchairs in the room, blanketed with white sheets. An oval shaped   
table stood before us, littered with papers and books and candles.  
  
We warily crept forward and approached the table. "I don't think we   
should touch anything," I whispered apprehensively, glancing around.  
  
Aya nodded, letting go of my hand. He moved around to the other side   
of the table to examine the many books that lay open to various pages.  
  
I took a closer glance at the papers that were strewn all over the   
surface. The writing was something that I was unfamiliar with. I   
guessed it was Latin because, well don't devils always write in Latin?   
Most papers were covered with writing, a few even looked like they'd   
been written in blood. Then there were also a few papers that had   
strange symbols and drawings on them. Some were comprehensive   
sketches of various parts of the human anatomy, others were maps..   
  
I didn't see the four colored sketches at first because I'd been   
studying a drawing that looked remarkably like the two, blond girls in   
the painting I'd seen earlier. They wore the same haunted expressions,   
the same shadowing ready to enfold them from behind.  
  
I looked away, unable to bear looking at such a ghastly drawing. My   
eyes fell on the next few papers that were carelessly scattered about.   
The four colored drawings. The only drawings on the table that were in   
color.  
  
My body was frozen as I stared at them. Ice dripped into my veins, my   
breath hitched. I must have made some small, startled noise because   
Aya was at my side in an instant.   
  
"Ken?"  
  
Wordlessly, I pointed to the pictures.  
  
He inhaled sharply, violet eyes opened wide.  
  
The four pictures were detailed sketches of us.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"That's impossible," Omi was chanting over and over again. Living body   
parts and animals in jars of fluid was impossible!  
  
Yohji said nothing but simply walked in grim silence. "I'll protect Omi   
no matter what," he promised himself. Nothing bad had happened so   
far, there was just a lot of really creepy shit going on, but still. Omi   
*would* remain safe as long as he was with him. He had to put his   
fears aside for Omi, which was a lot easier thought than done. This   
place was freaking him out.  
  
"Do you think Aya kun and Ken kun are alright?" Omi wondered then,   
his voice quiet and worried.  
  
He managed a smile and affectionately ruffled the boy's soft hair. "I'm   
sure they're both fine. If anything happened we'd have heard Ken   
yelling all the way down here."  
  
Omi grinned back. "Can you picture Aya kun waving his katana around,   
yelling 'Shi-ne ghost'?"  
  
Yohji had to laugh at the mental image Omi's words provided. "Poor   
ghost. He'd experience death all over again."  
  
"Ne, Yohji kun?" Blue eyes looked up at him as the boy nervously   
chewed on his lower lip. "What do you think happened here?"  
  
Sighing, he shrugged. "I have no clue. But something tells me that I   
don't wanna know."  
  
Omi nodded. "Me either."  
  
There had been another hallway leading from the kitchen that   
stretched out towards the back of the house. The first few doors   
were locked and for that both of them were infinitely glad. The next   
door that did open lead to a gentleman's sitting room.   
  
And both of them were shocked.  
  
The room was alive and filled with warmth. There was a fire gently   
burning in the fireplace, the clock on the mantle was tick tock-ing. The   
plants on the window sill were alive and healthy and a goldfish swam   
placidly in a bowl upon a table beside the armchair that stood in front   
of the fireplace. A lamp in the corner dimly cast a cozy glow upon the   
room.   
  
"I don't believe it," Yohji murmured. "There is someone living here!"  
  
Omi emphatically shook his head. "No, Yohji kun." He gestured to the   
carpet which was encrusted with a dense sheet of dust. "If anybody   
had been in here than there would be footprints."  
  
Frowning, he pushed down his sunglasses to study the floor. "What are   
you saying then? That a ghost did this?"  
  
"I don...Yohji kun look over there."  
  
He followed the boy's finger. On the mantle, propped up against a china   
figurine of a milkmaid was a pale blue envelope. Written upon the face,   
in stark black ink were their names.   
  
"A fucking envelope for us. Just fucking great." He rubbed at his   
temples, feeling a headache coming on.  
  
Omi looked up at him. "Should we take it?"  
  
"Oh Lord," he grumbled annoyed. "I hate these kinds of damned if you   
do, damned if you don't decisions. I mean it could be a trick. We could   
die. Or it might be a clue to help us get out of this mess alive."  
  
"But how could...whoever...*possibly* know our names? I mean, it could   
just as easily have been Aya kun and Ken kun who came in here instead   
of us." Omi scratched at his head. "This doesn't make any sense."  
  
"It *never* makes any sense," Yohji told him. "Evil forces *always*   
know your name."  
  
Up until an hour ago, Omi would have scoffed at the idea of there   
being evil forces. Now he wasn't so sure. He merely nodded. "Let's open   
it. I wanna to know what's in it."  
  
"Curiosity, the natural downfall of man," Yohji quipped.  
  
Omi rolled his eyes. "Come on, we're wasting time. You probably want to   
know what's in it as much as I do."  
  
Well that he did. Yohji took Omi's hand and they slowly inched towards   
the mantle, continuously scanning their surroundings for any menacing   
creatures that might suddenly pop up. Nothing did but it never hurt to   
be prepared, especially when you were in a goddamn haunted house.   
  
Yohji hesitated for a few seconds and then swiftly snatched the   
envelope. It didn't burn through his hands or burst into flames, so he   
supposed it was safe. For the time being anyways. He ripped the letter   
open, the envelope falling into the fire. The paper was cream colored   
and folded in half.  
  
He unfolded it and held it out so they both could read. There was only   
one verse, written neatly in the middle of the page.   
  
Twice fear instilling  
Justice dimly burning  
Dragon's door creaking  
Leading to answers yearning.  
  
Yohji read the lone verse three times. "What the fuck?!!!"  
  
Omi took the paper from him and slowly read the verse out loud.   
  
"How anticlimactic," Yohji muttered, raking a hand through his hair.   
"At the very least I'd expected a death threat."  
  
"Well the first two lines are pretty self-explanatory," Omi decided,   
his brows coming together in a frown. "Twice fear would be you and   
Ken kun. Justice is all of us since that's the purpose of Weiss. We're   
dim because this house is making us scared and uncertain. As for the   
last couple lines..." he trailed off, shrugging.  
  
"I guess we're supposed to go through some door to find the answers,"   
Yohji speculated. "But the thing is, do we do what it says or not?"  
  
"Well we chose to take the envelope so we may as well follow this out.   
But I doubt we'll like what we're gonna find our."  
  
Yohji couldn't have agreed more. A flick of the wrist sent the letter   
into the fire. "Let's go find this friggin' dragon door."  
  
They both set off.   
  



	3. Default Chapter Title

***************************************  
Blackwake Manor  
Part Three  
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic  
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)  
***************************************  
  
The sketches were beyond thorough. Names, birthdates, height,   
weight, hair and eye coloring...everything was exact. We were all   
dressed in our assassin gear and even that was precise right down to   
the tiniest detail.  
  
It scared the fucking shit outta me.  
  
"Us." Aya's usually deep, authoritative voice had been reduced to a   
raspy croak. "It's us."  
  
Blindly I reached out and groped for his hand, still staring at the   
sketches. "Aya...now I'm really scared."  
  
He squeezed my hand. "I know."  
  
"How can this be? What should we do?" The image of the headless   
woman swept into my mind at that instant and I swallowed heavily,   
fighting not to gag. "What if we end up like-"  
  
Aya clamped a hand over my mouth. "No." Low, firm voice. "Nothing like   
that is going to happen to us because we're Weiss and we can handle   
this. There must be some kind of rational explanation for all this and   
we'll get to the bottom of it." His eyes were surprisingly gentle in the   
dim light of the candle as they held my gaze. "Promise me you'll stay   
strong Ken."  
  
He was right, of course. This wasn't the time to let Weiss down.   
Whatever this was, who ever had done it had to be stopped. Before   
anything else could happen and before anymore innocent people were   
hurt.   
  
I nodded, my voice holding far more confidence than I felt. "I'm fine.   
But," I waved at the drawings of us. "What should we do about those?   
Should we destroy them? Or..." My eyes widened as a thought   
occurred to me. "What if the evil forces are trying to get us to   
destroy them? And then when we do, we die too because we're part of   
the sketches!!! Or what if we-"  
  
"Well I guess you're okay now," Aya interrupted wryly. "Now forget   
about all that because we're going to leave them here."  
  
I blinked. "We are?"  
  
"Yes. I don't like the idea of disturbing anything."  
  
"But Aya, are you sure?" I shuffled my feet uneasily and looked   
around. "I mean maybe we should-"  
  
Aya's voice was dry. "Ken, we're worrying about nothing right now." He   
gestured to the table.  
  
The drawings were gone. Absofuckinglutely gone.   
  
I couldn't help it. I flung myself into Aya's arms and buried my face in   
his shoulder. "Oh man, we're so dooooooooooomed," I wailed in anguish.   
  
So much for my sudden resolve to be a man and take it like it is and   
save all the innocents. Forget the innocents, I wanted to go home!!!   
Dammit, wasn't I innocent? Didn't I deserve to be saved? I mean, I can   
handle killing bad guys and fighting Schwartz and all that. But battling   
the wicked in a shitty spooksville of a house where paintings looked at   
me and merry-go-rounds played music by themselves and pregnant   
women were killed brutally and pictures of us disappeared...it was too   
much! When had Weiss turned into the X-files? I wasn't Mulder   
dammit! Although Aya did have red hair like Scully...  
  
"They're playing with us," Aya bit out scathingly, barely containing his   
cold fury. "Those fucking bastards."  
  
Aya only swore when he was *really* pissed off so I'm guessing that he   
was *really* pissed off. In any case, his ire made me feel safe. He was   
one mean bitch when riled up. Of course I was tough too but he had   
the advantage of not being afraid whereas me...well you know.  
  
Aya hauled me roughly from the room, stomping angrily. Yep, he was   
definitely mad.  
  
A steady trinkling sound was coming from behind the door of the next   
room. I hid behind Aya, gripping his trench coat tightly and peeking   
over his shoulder as he slowly twisted the doorknob open.   
  
I held my breath, more than prepared to run like hell. What cold-  
blooded terrors lay in this room? The door groaned open on whiny   
hinges and involuntarily I clenched my eyes shut. I was about to ask   
Aya how bad it was when it suddenly registered into my muddled mind   
that the trinkling sound was water. Running water.  
  
My eyes popped open. In the very center of the room was a huge   
fountain of a gargoyle spitting forth water. I wrinkled my nose. A   
gargoyle? How tacky.  
  
The floor wasn't carpeted, unlike all the other rooms we'd been to.   
Instead, it was marble and our feet made loud thumping noises upon it.   
I noticed that the fountain's water was a murky brown color and there   
were dead fish floating in on the surface. At one time the room must   
have been filled with lush, healthy plants and flowers. Now the many   
pots and vases were either filled with dead sticks and rotting soil or   
were empty.   
  
The room was an art studio. Paintings of scenery decorated the walls   
and there were countless numbers of unhung paintings stacked about.   
A table in the back, behind the fountain was jumbled with paint   
brushes and paints and sketchbooks and other assorted art supplies.   
Several easels stood nearby with unfinished paintings resting upon   
them.   
  
Aya lifted the candle to an easel in the corner. The painting upon it   
was of a quaint mountains and forest scene, the sky blue and the sun   
shining. Defacing the sunny little scene was thick, vivid strokes in red,   
spelling out 'Help me'.  
  
It had been recently done. The red paint was still wet, dripping down   
the smooth canvas. The paintbrush lay on the floor, drenched in red   
paint.  
  
**Beautiful, isn't it?**  
  
A breathy whisper, brushing upon my ear.  
  
I whirled around. There was no one there.  
  
"This was just done," Aya muttered unnecessarily. He stepped closer   
to examine the mess.  
  
**Scared of me Ken?**  
  
My heart was leaping frantically as I scanned the room. There was no   
one and yet the voice was speaking right in my ear.  
  
**They always are**  
  
"Stop it," I hissed, backing away and bumping into the edge of the   
fountain.  
  
The voice grew louder and became guttural.   
  
**Your fear tastes delicious**  
  
"St-stay away f-from me," I gasped, my body shaking ferociously.  
  
"Ken?" Aya moved away from the easel and looked over at me.  
  
**Will he be able to save you Ken?**  
  
I shrank back, petrified out of my mind. Someone was talking to me   
and they knew my name!  
  
"Ken!"  
  
For the umpteenth time that night I threw myself into the safety of   
Aya's arms, this time barely biting back a sob.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Four moldy, smelly, creepy rooms later, Omi and Yohji finally found the   
dragon door. It was inside a rather barren room that kept only a few   
sofas, some tables and a shelf filled with tattered books. There was a   
door on the far side of the room and engraved on the doorknob was a   
delicate dragon.  
  
"About damn time," Yohji grumbled.   
  
Omi grinned. "I knew we'd find it sooner or later."  
  
Yohji leveled a stern look upon the boy. "No matter what happens Omi,   
I want you to stay by my side. Understand? I don't want anything to   
happen to you."  
  
"Of course," he replied, taking the opportunity to step closer to his   
older teammate. "Let's go."  
  
Yohji reached out slowly turned the doorknob. The heaved open and he   
shone the flashlight into the murky darkness. Stairs were the only   
thing he could see. Lots of stairs going down into the dreaded   
basement.  
  
Yohji blanched. This was exactly the sort of cheesy clich‚ that   
freaked him out. He really did *not* to go gallivanting about in the   
bowels of this house. God only knew what shitty-assed horrors lay   
waiting for them.  
  
"Yohji kun?" Wide blue eyes were peering up at him expectantly. "Are   
we still going down?"  
  
He took a deep breath. "We're going," he responded determinedly. For   
the sake of Omi he wouldn't wimp out. He was older, it was his job to   
protect the younger boy. Aya would take care of Ken and he'd look out   
for Omi. Simply simple.  
  
The stairs winded and there were many. It took about ten minutes to   
get to the bottom since the flashlight wasn't all that powerful and it   
was difficult to see that much more ahead. Also the steps were uneven   
and badly crumbling.  
  
After what seemed like an eternity, they finally made it to flat ground.   
The hallway was classically cheesy. All made of stone with wooden   
torches that were hung on the wall. The hallway stretched out to the   
left and on the right was an enormously gigantic door.  
  
"Door or hallway?"  
  
Omi bit his lip as he thought for a few seconds. "Door," he decided.  
  
Yohji, who'd been secretly hoping that he'd pick the hallway, sighed.   
Facing danger head on in his mind was great. Facing danger in reality   
sucked like crap.  
  
They walked towards the door and before they even reached it, it   
swung open. Thick swirls of grey mist drifted out.  
  
"Oh jeeze" Omi muttered.  
  
Yohji grabbed the younger boy's hand. "Don't say anything and don't go   
anywhere," he cautioned sternly.  
  
They cleaved through the mist and entered. Behind them, the door   
closed with an abrupt thud.  
  
"Stuck again," Yohji mumbled wryly, shining the flashlight through the   
wispy fog which was dissipating.  
  
Before them were a few of steps, leading down into an enormous, dark   
room. The walls were made of broad slabs of stone, the floor nothing   
more than muddy dirt. The haze weaved its way through the heavy   
coffins and crosses that were scattered throughout the entire room.  
  
"A graveyard," Omi breathed, looking on in morbid fascination.   
  
Yohji was not impressed. When a house had a friggin' graveyard in the   
basement, that usually was not a good sign!  
  
They stepped down, the ground squishy and mucky beneath their feet.   
Moisture clung to the walls, the sound of rats scampering echoing. The   
caskets were large and stark, spread out randomly. Simple wooden   
crosses were tucked here and there and all along the far side were   
neat piles of dirt, shovels standing erect on the top of the heaps.   
Recently covered bodies.   
  
"There sure are a lot of dead people down here," Omi remarked   
offhandedly.  
  
Yohji, who was on the verge of going into cardiac arrest, gaped openly   
at the younger boy. How the hell could he be so casual about all these   
dead bodies? Why wasn't the kid scared? The coffins could hold   
vampires dammit!!! The mounds of dirt could be the last victims they   
sucked dry!   
  
"That's all you can say?" Yohji finally managed. "There are a lot of   
dead people down here?! "  
  
Omi patted his arm. "Calm down Yohji kun. It's just probably just a   
family mausoleum."  
  
"WHO THE HELL HAS A FAMILY THIS BIG!!!"  
  
Yohji's yelling immediately woke the entire brigade of vampire bats   
there were sleeping overhead. In a huge whirl of flapping wings and   
high-pitched shrieking, Yohji and Omi were instantly swarmed by   
furry, flying rodents.   
  
"GGGGAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!! My hair!!!"  
  
Omi sighed, shaking his head. The pack of bats had flown off to   
another part of the ceiling, and Yohji was still shrieking and thrashing   
around.   
  
"Get away you filthy flying rats!"  
  
"They're gone Yohji kun."  
  
Yohji slowly straightened and saw that, indeed, they were. "Miserable   
shitty assed fuckers!" He rubbed at his cheek. "One bit me!"  
  
"Bats are generally timid animals," Omi informed him, the zoologist in   
him aroused. "But these are vampire bats so that's probably why you   
got bitten. They need a tablespoon of blood a day to survive. Did you   
know that bats are the only mammals that can fly?"  
  
"Do I fucking care?" Yohji snarled, harassed. Omi was an exceptionally   
smart kid but there was a time and place to go sprouting off biological   
knowledge and the cemetery of a haunted house was not it! "Vampire   
bats, that's a sign if I ever heard of one!"  
  
Omi knew it was futile to try and calm Yohji down in his agitated state   
so he tried to be logical. "Vampires need to feed in the night so   
chances are they're probably not here."  
  
"Unless they're the bats!" Yohji looked at the plethora of bats hanging   
upside down from the ceiling. "They're all vampires waiting to make   
their move."  
  
"We'd be sucked dry by now if they really were vampires. Now come   
on, let's go check out the coffins. I'm sure they'll give us some clues."  
  
Yohji glared. "Forget it! I'm not touching those things with a ten-foot   
pole!"  
  
Omi shrugged, unconcerned. "Suit yourself." He snatched the   
flashlight from Yohji's hand and moved towards the nearest casket.  
  
"Oh fuck." Yohji grumbled heading after him.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Aya comforted me in a very unlike-Aya way. He didn't ask me to explain   
anything, instead he let me cling to him and he stroked my hair. In any   
other situation I would have demanded to know who he was and what   
had he done with Aya. But alas, this was not any other situation.   
  
Someone...or something was talking to me. They knew who I was.   
Needless to say, I did not have a good feeling about this.   
  
We left the artist room and much to my joy, as well as my sanity, the   
voice didn't start talking to me again. We soon came to a split in the   
hallway. Straight ahead of us was a curling staircase, most likely   
leading up to the attic. To the left as well as to the right were   
hallways with more rooms.  
  
"Which way?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from shaking too badly.   
Either way we went, unspeakable horrors were bound to find us.   
  
"The attic," Aya answered tersely.  
  
I nodded and then I saw it. A trail of wet, muddy footprints marking   
the dusty carpet of the stairs. "Aya look!" I cried, my voice hoarse.   
"Footprints!"  
  
Violet eyes gleamed violently. "Now we've got them."  
  
For the hundredth time I thanked whatever God was looking down on   
me for pairing me up with Aya. The guy was a mean son of a bitch when   
pissed off. If anyone had a chance against the powers of evil, it was   
Aya.  
  
Aya stalked up the stairs, his katana matching the ominous glitter in   
his eye. I hurried after him, constantly glancing around. The last thing   
I wanted to be confronted with was that sinister voice of that   
sinister...whoever it was.  
  
The stairs were creaky and I jumped whenever we happened to step on   
one. I think I was going crazy. I mean, I was scared shitless coming   
here but now I was beyond scared. I had entered *new* levels of fear.   
I was petrified.  
  
**That you are my pretty**  
  
I whirled around and nearly went sprawling back down the stairs.   
Grabbing, hold of the banister, I managed to keep upright. Aya was   
still stomping up the stairs, oblivious. Frantically, I looked around,   
trying to get a glimpse of this vile mind-raper.  
  
**You should know by now that you can't see me**  
  
"Stay away from me!" I shrieked silently. My fingers were ice-cold   
inside my gloves as I clutched the banister.  
  
"Ken, what is it?" Aya looked down at me, worry marring plum eyes.  
  
At another time I'd have been boggled that the Iceman himself was   
showing concern. But at the moment, I had other problems on my mind.   
Like how I was ready to flee to another hemisphere.   
  
**Surely you don't think -he- could help you**  
  
"Aya," I croaked, trembling. "Someone is-"  
  
~C*R*A*S*H~  
  
The window beside the stairs shattered as a solid branch, propelled by   
the wind, struck through the glass. Shards showered upon the filthy   
maroon carpet, the frantic wind swirling into the house with a shrill   
shriek. It was raining bitterly outside.  
  
I still ended up nearly leaping out of my skin, my heart racing like some   
kind of crazy locomotive. I know I screamed and even Aya looked...well   
he brandished his katana anyways.  
  
"I don't know how much more I can take of this," I muttered, waiting   
for my heartbeat to slow down.   
  
"Did you hurt-"  
  
I stopped paying attention to Aya when a white slip of paper wafted in   
through the broken window and fell down at my feet. I shrank back   
against the banister. Who knew what the hell the innocent-seeming   
paper contained. Some kind of demonic incantation or death threat of   
more pictures of us...I shuddered.  
  
Aya came back down the stairs and bent to pick the paper up.  
  
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," I gulped out, wringing my hands   
apprehensively.   
  
"Ken this paper just fell at our feet," he informed me calmly. "I doubt   
it was a coincidence. We're obviously meant to read it."  
  
I sighed, brushing sweaty bangs off my forehead. At this point nothing   
could surprise me. Scare me, oh hell ya. Surprise me, not really.   
  
Aya read the note silently, his expression grim.  
  
"Well?" I finally asked, biting my lip. "What is it? Is it evil? Are we   
going to die?" I started to get frantic. "I'm too young to die dammit! I   
wanna go home! This sucks!"  
  
"Let's go," Aya muttered, crumpling the paper into a ball and tossing it   
out the broken window. "I don't think you want to know what's on the   
paper."  
  
No I probably didn't.  
  
I scrambled around the shattered glass and followed him up the stairs.  
  
"Ken, what happened before?" he asked me gently as we made our way   
up the squeaky stairs.  
  
"It really happened Aya," I warned him seriously. "It wasn't a figment   
of my imagination or any crap like that. I wasn't being stupid either."  
  
"What happened?" he asked me tersely.   
  
"Someone's been talking in my mind." Inwardly I winced. It sounded   
lame even to my ears and I was *used* to sounding lame.  
  
Aya arched an eyebrow in silent question.  
  
"It's true! They said that they knew I was afraid of them and that you   
wouldn't be able to save me! I'm not lying, I swear. Someone really is in   
my mind!"  
  
He sighed softly. "I believe you Ken."  
  
I blinked "You do?"  
  
"After everything else that's happened, mind games don't surprise me."   
  
"Stupid mind games," I muttered. "Sounds like that bastard   
Schulderich."  
  
Suddenly Aya stopped, mid-step. His gaze clung to mine. "Schulderich,"   
he spat out.  
  
My eyes widened. "Schwartz? You don't think..." I frowned. "They'd   
have no way of knowing that we'd be here. They don't know who Persia   
is. Hell, we don't even know who Persia is!"  
  
Aya grabbed my hand. "There's only one way to find out."  
  
We raced up the remainder of the stairs.   
  



	4. Default Chapter Title

***************************************  
Blackwake Manor  
Part Four  
A Weiss Kreuz Halloween Fic  
By Deena (deena_arashi@hotmail.com)  
***************************************  
  
Yohji reluctantly followed Omi towards the nearest coffin, keeping a   
close eye on the bats that hung above all the while.  
  
"Damn these are heavy," Omi grunted. He was kneeling beside a coffin   
and trying to lug the lid off.  
  
"Hey what the hell are you doing?!" Yohji cried, aghast. He grabbed   
one thin shoulder and wrenched the boy away. "Don't touch that   
termite infested shit!"  
  
"How are we supposed to find out what's in them if we don't open   
them?"  
  
"There could be vampires in them!"  
  
Omi rolled his eyes. "There's no such thing as vampires."  
  
"Well there's such thing as werewolves!"  
  
"Oh for God's sakes-"  
  
"Let's just go! The bats are a sign, I'm telling you!"   
  
"Remember what the letter said?" Omi reminded him. "The answers   
are down here. Now stop   
complaining and help me get this stupid cover off!"  
  
Yohji sighed and cursed the stubborn kid. He should have paired up   
with Ken. Then they both could have ran the hell home and left the   
eager beavers, Aya and Omi to investigate as much as they wanted to.   
He grabbed one side of the dusty coffin and started to yank at it,   
more to shut Omi up then any innate curiosity.  
  
After a bit of clever manipulating and/or the use of so-called 'brute   
strength', Omi and Yohji finally managed to pry off the lid.   
  
Immediately both Weiss members were assaulted with the vilest   
stench east of the Tokyo Municipal garbage dump.  
  
"G*A*H!!!" Yohji goggled, covering his mouth and hurriedly backing   
away.  
  
The casket, which was really nothing more than a wooden box, was   
filled to the brim with blood. Floating in the gooey crimson liquid were   
bits of skin and human hair, bones and pulpy masses of flesh.  
  
Omi hastily shut the coffin, his face pale. "Oh God," he choked out,   
stumbling away. He braced himself on a stone tombstone and fought   
the urge to retch.  
  
"I knew it!" Yohji cried, jerking away from the horrid coffin. "It's a   
punchbowl for vampires!"  
  
Omi let out a strangled sound that was a cross between a titter and a   
gag. "Yohji kun-" he coughed sharply as his stomach twisted tightly,   
flowing upwards.  
  
Yohji noticed for the first time the predicament his younger   
teammate was in. "Omi? You okay kid?"  
  
"J-just...fine," he panted, wobbling slightly.   
  
"I don't think-"  
  
Omi threw up.  
  
"Oh shit!"   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
We flew up the stairs, both of us deep in thought. Could Schwartz   
really be behind all this? Was it some kind of elaborate set-up to kill   
us? Was it possible that they'd tipped off Persia? Upon further   
reflection it did seem plausible.   
  
I could feel my fear ebbing, being replaced with anger. If Schwartz   
really was involved then I was gonna kick their ass! After all the fear   
and horror and embarrassment this stupid mission had caused   
me...they were gonna pay dammit!   
  
"How many friggin' stairs are there anyways?" I huffed, trying to keep   
up with Aya.  
  
He didn't reply. I guessed he was pissed off. He hated being foiled. It   
was probably eating him alive that he didn't figure it out before.  
  
Finally we reached the top. Before us stood a stately mahogany door   
with the phrase 'Abandon hope all ye who enter by me' carved across   
the surface.   
  
The words sent a shiver racing through my body. "That phrase seems   
familiar," I muttered, as I caught my breath.  
  
Aya shot me a surprised look. "It's from Dante's Divine Comedy. It was   
carved on the gates of hell."  
  
I shivered again. "Well since it's literature I guess we can rule out   
Schwartz," I commented, trying to make a joke. "Those illiterate   
jerks." Needless to say, Aya was not amused.  
  
Aya stepped forward to open the door. Unconsciously I grabbed a   
handful of his trench coat.  
  
One fine red brow arched.  
  
I swallowed, a sense of dread washing over me. "Aya wouldn't it make   
more sense if we just found Yohji and Omi and left? We pretty much   
completed the mission by checking this place out. Let's go."  
  
"Ken we must have 'checked out' about a fourth of this house," Aya   
told me sardonically.  
  
"Have a sense of self-preservation dammit!" I glared at him. "I do   
*not* want to die! And I do *not* want Yohji and Omi to die either!   
And I really do *not* want to abandon hope by going in through that   
dumb door!!!"  
  
To my surprise Aya smiled a tiny smile. "A five minute scan and we'll   
leave. I promise."   
  
"Two minutes."  
  
"Fine," he sighed, rolling his eyes.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Meanwhile, as these going-ons were transpiring...  
  
"This is the place," Crawford said blandly as he and Farfarello stopped.  
  
Nagi clung to Schulderich. "I don't wanna go in there!" he cried. "The   
house is haunted!"  
  
Farfarello was chewing contentedly on a rubber band. "Haunted houses   
hurt God."  
  
"You heard Mr. Takatori!" Crawford snapped impatiently. "Our mission   
is to check this house out. Now stop acting like babies and come on!"  
  
"Who's acting like a baby?" Schulderich demanded. "I don't see   
anything babyish about wanting to live! Who knows what evil lurks in   
that house!"  
  
"Evil hurts God," Farfarello informed everyone smugly.  
  
Suddenly the front gate to the house swung open as a bolt of thunder   
shrieked high above them. Nearby a nocturnal animal howled.  
  
Nagi jumped into Schulderich's arms, a la Scooby Dooby Doo, both man   
and boy screaming for their lives.  
  
Farfarello joined in, not because he was scared but because he wanted   
to practice singing the Danish Funeral March.  
  
Crawford wasted no time in pulling out his gun. "SHUT UP!"  
  
Nagi and Schulderich shut up. Farfarello kept going.  
  
"I SAID SHUT UP!!!!" Crawford whacked Farfarello's head for extra   
emphasis.  
  
The Irish man blinked his one eye. "That felt good. Can you do it   
again?"  
  
"NO!!!" The American turned and blasted a scathing scowl at Nagi and   
Schulderich. "I'm sick of your pathetic whining! Now get inside the   
damn gate!!!"  
  
Both Nagi and Schulderich winced. Crawford holding a gun was scary.   
Sure they both had special powers with which they could best   
Crawford but they were just too darn scared to use them.   
  
The redhead looked at Nagi. "You first," he graciously invited.  
  
"Oh no, I wouldn't dream of it," Nagi quickly replied. "You first."  
  
"No, no, little ones first."  
  
"Don't be absurd. You first. I insist."  
  
"No you first. *I* insist!"  
  
"Dammit I said that I insist!"  
  
"Well I said that I insist too!"  
  
Crawford pointed his gun at Schulderich's head. "Don't make me say   
it."  
  
Schulderich angrily kicked a pebble and slowly entered, scanning the   
premises for any signs of pure evil. Nagi followed, clinging to his arm.  
  
"Stop licking the gate!" Crawford snapped.  
  
Farfarello looked up from a mouth full of rusty metal. "But it taste   
good," he whined.  
  
Crawford grabbed the psycho's arm and hauled him away. Behind them   
the gate snapped shut with a loud creak.  
  
"We're stuck in here!" Schulderich shrieked, wringing his icy hands   
together.  
  
"I'm too young to die!" Nagi wailed. "I never even got to-" he stole a   
quick peek at Farfarello, "-kiss Tot," he finished lamely.   
  
"Oh shut up and keep walking!"  
  
Schulderich and Nagi slowly inched forward, grumbling to each other.   
  
And that's when the unthinkable happened. A slimy, bony hand reached   
out and grabbed Schulderich!  
  
"Aahhhhhhhh!!!! Help!!! A monster's got me!!!!!"  
  
"Oh God no!!! Save Schu!!!!!!!"  
  
"That's a tree branch moron!" Crawford informed the German annoyed,   
unhooking the said branch from his jacket.  
  
Oh.  
  
"Monsters hurt God."   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Omi felt like the biggest wimp ever after he'd finished hurling. "I feel   
like the biggest wimp ever!" he moaned, clutching his recently-emptied   
tummy.  
  
Yohji soothingly stroked his back. "Aw come on, you know that title   
belongs to Ken."  
  
"Ken's not usually not a wimp," Omi declared, coughing. "It's just this   
stupid house."  
  
"Well same goes for you kiddo." He brushed at Omi's bangs. "I've had   
more than enough of this goddamn house. We're going upstairs and   
we're gonna find Aya and Ken and then we're gonna get the fuck outta   
here! And-" he continued, seeing Omi about to protest, "I don't care   
about what that stupid letter said! We're going!"   
  
Omi sighed knowing that when Yohji put his mind to something, it was   
impossible to sway. "But can we at least check a couple more of these   
coffins?"  
  
Yohji stared at him incredulously. "You just finished barfing your little   
guts out and you still want more?"  
  
"I didn't barf my guts out," he muttered, flushing. "Anyways, look at   
how many coffins there are. They can't all be filled with blood."  
  
"That's because they're filled with vampires!"  
  
"We'll just check one," Omi wheedled. "I mean this is our mission. We   
can't just do a half-assed job!"  
  
"Yes we can," Yohji grumbled.  
  
Omi grabbed his arm and dragged him to one of the caskets in the   
back. "We'll open this one!" he announced, pointing to a large, ornate   
casket.  
  
Yohji sighed loudly as they began to lug and tug at the stupid thing. A   
few minutes passed and to no avail was the casket open.  
  
"Maybe this is one of those kinds that only opens on one said," Omi   
speculated. "Maybe we're trying from the wrong side."  
  
Yohji shrugged, walking around to the other side. "Yeah maybe. It's   
worth a-" He abruptly stopped and stared.  
  
"Yohji kun? What is it?"   
  
Wordlessly, Yohji pointed to the brass plate that was nailed to the   
side of the casket.  
  
'In memory of Kudou Yohji'  
  
Omi felt a pile of bile churn and rise upwards, especially when he   
turned away and was greeted with another coffin and another plak,   
this one bearing Ken's name. It wasn't too hard to find Aya's and his   
own coffin.  
  
Yohji didn't think. He snatched Omi and ran like hell.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Because the door was locked, Aya had to kick it open.  
  
"It's not too late to leave," I reminded Aya shakily.  
  
Aya glared at me. "Why the hell are you still so scared? This is   
obviously the work of Schwartz not some evil incarnate!"  
  
"I have a bad feeling about this okay? And besides, we don't know for   
certain that Schwartz did this. It could be-"  
  
"Be what?" Aya demanded. "Vampires? Ghosts? Witches? Things that   
go bump in the night?" He scowled as shoved the door open.  
  
I glowered at the back of Aya's head. He just didn't know anything!   
Obviously this was the domain of an evil overlord and his wicked   
henchmen. And now we were going to walk right into his trap and then   
we'd die! Because, let's face it, can a claw and a sword *really* defeat   
one who controls all the evil powers in the universe? I think not!  
  
But just in case...I released my claw and tried to get my hands to stop   
shaking.   
  
The attic was black as soot and I couldn't see a blasted thing. Aya had   
to relight the candle since the flame had burned out on our run up the   
stairs.  
  
I was really getting a bad feeling about this. It took every ounce of   
sheer willpower I possessed to keep from fleeing.  
  
Aya held up the candle as we slinked onward. I glanced behind me and   
around me, making sure that no creatures of the night were creeping   
up on me. None were but I was still scared and trying to act tough.  
  
From what we could see of the attic, Lord knows just how big it really   
was, it was entirely cluttered with odds and ends of every sort, making   
it difficult to walk. It was such a typical horror movie attic, filled with   
antique furniture, old paintings, suits of armor, stacks of books, chests   
of clothing, and enough dust to blanket a small nation. Not to mention   
the charming smell. It smelled *so* bad. Like mould and things rotting   
and who knew what else.  
  
I cringed, especially when I head faint rustling noises were coming   
from the distance.  
  
"What's that noise?" I whispered, leeching onto his arm.  
  
"Mice," he whispered back.  
  
I was hopeful. If mice lived up here then maybe that meant an evil   
Overlord *didn't*. Unless they were sinister monster mice. Or maybe   
they were kept here because the vampires of the house used them as   
quick snacks. Or maybe the witches needed them for their brews. Or   
maybe-  
  
A rat chose that moment to scamper over my foot. I let out a tonsil-  
cracking howl and jumped into Aya's arms. Okay, so I didn't know that   
it was a rat until I saw its pink tail disappear under a rocking chair but   
at that point it didn't matter because I was too busy screaming.  
  
Aya stumbled backwards since it wasn't like I'd given him any warning   
that I was dropping in for a visit. We both crashed into a smelly pile of   
clothing, falling into a big heap of arms and legs and cloth and dust.   
Lots and lots of dust. Aya dropped the candle in the scuffle and it fell   
onto a sheet-covered sofa, flames beginning to sprout along the white   
cloth.   
  
I shoved at a shirt that had ensnared me away and sneezed.  
  
Aya sneezed as he tried to detangle himself from me.  
  
I sneezed again and then blushed when I realized that I was sitting on   
his lap.  
  
Aya sneezed and then hastily removed his hand, which was gripping my   
thigh.  
  
All in all there was a lot of sneezing and accidental touching occurring.  
  
Cursing luridly, Aya stood and then tripped over his sword which had   
gotten tangled in a nearby lampshade.   
  
I was still sneezing as I tried to extract myself from what appeared   
to be a hoopskirt. I swore too.  
  
Aya seized my flailing arm and hauled me to my feet. I stumbled over   
rotting cloth and fell directly into his arms. Our faces were inches   
apart and I could see straight into violet, watery eyes.  
  
I felt my cheeks heat in a blush and to my surprise, Aya was also   
blushing. He whispered my name in a voice like velvet and a gloved hand   
came up to...  
  
I wretched away and sneezed loudly.  
  
Aya's face matched his hair. "Er...bless you."  
  
That's when I noticed that the fire had grown considerably.   
"GAAAHHHH! THE FIRE!!!" I had a horrible image of the all powerful,   
evil Overlord stomping in and yelling at us for destroying his house. I   
quickly grabbed a blanket and started whacking at the flames,   
coughing as the sooty stench washed over me.  
  
"Fucking damn fire," I swore, beating the flames mercilessly.   
  
From behind me I heard Aya hiss and it occurred to that he helping me   
try and stop the fire. Dread drenched me like cold rain.  
  
"Aya?" I whispered, turning around to look back at him.  
  
His wan face was impassive but his eyes were filled with horror. "Don't   
look Ken," he whispered.  
  
I knew it would be horrible but I couldn't stop myself, my body moving   
of its own accord. Woodenly I stepped away from the sofa and looked.  
  
In all the excitement over the mice and falling down and the sneezing   
and the looking at each other and then trying to put out the fire, we   
hadn't noticed the ghoulish sight that lay only a short distance away.  
  
A pile of dead bodies. That's what it all came down to. A pile of about   
twenty dead bodies in various stages of decay. Black bugs and rats   
flitted throughout the mess, feasting and scurrying. Limp hands and   
empty eye sockets. Falling hair and torn clothing. Clotting blood   
*everywhere* And surrounding the heap were pots of different   
flowers. Flowers that were wrapped in *our* paper, potted in *our*   
pots, bearing *our* store's logo. Flowers that I myself that arranged. I   
could see a few of Omi's specialties and some of Aya's arrangements,   
the small cards marked with Yohji's elegant handwriting.   
  
Aya yanked me backwards. "We're going *now*."  
  
I was still in shock, barely registering what he was saying. "The fire," I   
reminded him lamely.  
  
His voice was like an ice shard. "Fuck it."   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Yohji and Omi flew back up the crumbling steps, towards the main   
floor. "We don't even know where they are," Omi huffed.   
  
"They're probably in the attic," Yohji replied. "We'll find them."  
  
"But this house is so big. The attic must be huge!"  
  
"Well I'd rather look for them then look at this friggin' house!" Yohji   
retorted.  
  
Omi silently agreed.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"That gargoyle just looked at me!" Nagi whimpered, burying his face   
into Farfarello's blue, sleeveless jacket.  
  
"Do we have to go inside?" Schulderich whined. "I can feel the pure   
evil radiating from here!"  
  
"We're going inside and that's final," Crawford stated tightly, reaching   
out the seize the doorknob.  
  
His assistance wasn't required because the door opened BY ITSELF!!!!  
  
"Bradley for the love of god DO SOMETHING!" Schulderich shrieked   
hysterically, hurling himself onto the American.  
  
"Get the hell off me!!!"  
  
"For the love of God?" Farfarello echoed, his expression dark. "You   
told me that you hated God! You damn liar!"  
  
"It's an expression," Nagi whispered into the Irish man's neck. Wide   
onyx eyes peered up into one amber one. "I'm really scared Farf. That   
door opened ALL BY ITSELF!!!!"  
  
"I'll destroy this house and then God will *really* hurt! He'll cry for   
the next fifty-seven eons!"  
  
Crawford gave up all hope of trying to get Schulderich off him for the   
redhead was stuck on him like Takatori on crime. He managed to enter   
the house, feeling dizzy since his blood flow was starting to stop.  
  
"Brad is blue!" Farfarello crowed, chortling squeakily. "That'll hurt God   
like anything!"  
  
"Er...AHAHAHA," Schulderich laughed embarrassedly. He quickly let   
go of the American.  
  
Suddenly the heavy door behind them banged shut.  
  
Nagi and Schulderich let out twin cries of terror.  
  
"We're wasting time!" Crawford snarled, finally able to breath. "Now   
come on!"  
  
The four of them headed into the first living room, thus missing Omi   
and Yohji who burst out of the dining room, ran down the hall and   
raced up the stairs towards the second floor.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
I could barely keep up with Aya since we were practically flying down   
the stairs. I never thought that he'd be the one leading me away from   
this monstrosity of a house.  
  
"How are we going to find Yohji and Omi?" I panted.  
  
"They'll be in the basement so we'll look there," Aya answered curtly.  
  
"But this house is so big!" I whined, suddenly worried that we wouldn't   
be able to find Yohji and Omi. "And what if something happened to   
them? Or what if-"  
  
"We'll find them."   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"I hope they're okay," Omi gasped, his legs feeling weak. There were   
so many damn stairs and long hallways in this stupid house!  
  
"They're fine," Yohji replied firmly, trying to convince not only Omi but   
himself as well.  
  
They flew past the various bedrooms and all the horrors that they   
contained.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Nagi and Schulderich stared at the voodoo doll that was impaled upon   
the fire poker. And then, together in once voice...  
  
"AAAAHHHHHHH~!!!!!"  
  
"I said don't touch that Farfarello!" Crawford bit out. "Hey stop trying   
to eat that!"   
  
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Finally we made it down the stairs and Aya hauled me down the hallway.   
"Not so fast!" I gasped, a stitch folding in my side. "I can barely   
breath!"  
  
"Don't forget that the attic is on fire."  
  
Oh yeah.  
  
"What are you waiting for?" I cried, huffing furiously. "Let's go!"   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"We're never going to find them!" Omi yelled, as they raced past the   
library.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
"We're never going to find them!" I yelled, as we raced past the art   
studio.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
S*M*A*S*H  
  
We found them. And a lot of stars too.  
  
"Ken kun! Aya kun!" Omi exclaimed happily. "I knew we'd find you!"  
  
"This place is pure evil!" I shrieked leaping to my feet. "We've gotta   
get outta here PRONTO!"  
  
"We told you all along that is house is haunted!" Yohji cried. "But you   
didn't believe us!"  
  
"I believe you now," Aya said quietly, brushing off his trench coat.  
  
Omi nodded emphatically. "Me too! This place really *is* evil!"  
  
We began to walk hurriedly down the hall.  
  
"There's a graveyard in the basement!" Yohji announced, shuddering.  
  
"And a pile of dead bodies in the attic!"  
  
"We think Schwartz is behind is," Aya informed them.  
  
Omi blinked. "Schwartz?"  
  
"Well I don't care who the fuck is behind this," Yohji muttered. "I just   
wanna get the hell outta here!"  
  
I nodded in agreement. "Me too!"  
  
"We'll fight Schwartz later," Aya stated as we began to head down the   
stairs. "Right now we go home."  
  
Yohji and I could barely contain our excitement.  
  
Mission accomplished...sort of.   
  
~*~*~*~  
  
Farfarello stared fascinated at the brain that lay upon the chopping   
board in the kitchen. It looked like pink cotton candy jello and he   
wanted some!  
  
"Now do you believe me when I say this place is evil?" Schulderich   
demanded. "There's a fucking brain on the table!"  
  
"And bones and blood and thorns!" Nagi chimed in. " I wanna go home!   
This sucks!"  
  
"Me too!" Schulderich cried. "I promise I'll never ever read your mind   
again, come on Brad whadda ya say?"  
  
Crawford's eyes were closed. "Shuddup. I'm having a vision..."  
  
Nagi held on tightly to Farfarello's hand. He didn't like the way the   
Irish man was hungrily eyeing the pulpy brain on the table.  
  
Crawford's eyes popped open, his glasses shining manically.   
"Schreient!"  
  
Nagi and Schulderich exchanged looks while Farfarello gnawed on his   
finger. "Schreient?" they chorused.  
  
"Those miserable hussies! I should have known they were behind this   
stupid house!"  
  
"Behind the house?" Nagi parroted. "You mean they're in the   
backyard?"  
  
"No you idiot, they're behind this ridiculous scheme!"  
  
"Ridiculous schemes can hurt God."  
  
"What scheme?" Schulderich demanded.   
  
"This haunted house!" Crawford huffed, annoyed. "They're the ones   
who put all this junk here and tried to trick us!"  
  
Schulderich frowned and let his mind scan the immediate premises.   
"Those hoes are right behind that wall!"  
  
And so they were.  
  
Crawford whipped out his gun and fired rapidly at the kitchen wall. He   
was beyond pissed off. How dare someone as worthy as himself get   
sent on a bogus mission orchestrated by four damn tarts!   
  
Schulderich shrieked mental obscenities into the minds of Schreient,   
cursing them and their ancestors and their future children and their   
pets and their make-up...etc.  
  
Nagi was glad that Schreient was here. Now he could finally get back   
his autographed copy of 'Gummy Bears: Friend or Foe, the Tale of the   
Missing Gummy Berry Juice' from Tot. How lonely his nights had been   
without his favorite bedtime storybook!  
  
Farfarello didn't really understand what was going on. And frankly he   
didn't care, as long as they did something that would hurt God.  
  
The wall swung open like a cheap rip-off of Batman, revealing a   
brightly-lit room filled with computers and TV screens and a huge   
table that was crammed full with scientific apparatuses like beakers   
and test tubes and Bunsen burners and bubbling, steamy liquids of   
various colors. And standing there in a row were Schreient!  
  
"You slutty hoes!" Schulderich yelled. "What the fuck do you think   
you're doing?"  
  
Hell sniffed delicately and buffed her shapely nails on her lab coat.   
"This was revenge against Weiss for killing our Masafumi sama. It's not   
our fault that you guys decided to come and meddle around."  
  
"Dumb fucks," Neu sneered.  
  
Schwartz was struck dumb.  
  
"This was all for...Weiss?" Crawford asked slowly. Strangely enough he   
felt disappointed. It was all so anticlimactic!  
  
"They killed Papa," Tot wailed, clutching her stuffed bunny tightly to   
her chest.   
  
Shoen scowled, touching her cheek. "That stupid bastard will pay for   
frigging up my beautiful face!"  
  
Farfarello watched the blond model with sudden interest. Her face   
really was beautiful. All smooth and soft-looking. He wanted to shove   
his knife in there!  
  
"Let's go," Crawford snapped. "This has been a colossal waste of time!"  
  
"Your existence is a colossal waste of time," Hell retorted, smirking.  
  
They both glared at each other.  
  
Schulderich narrowed his eyes and avidly studied the two leaders.   
With their short, dark hair and glasses and their matching glares they   
both looked surprisingly like...brother and sister!  
  
Farfarello pulled out a knife and aimed at Shoen's face.  
  
And at that moment, ALL THE LIGHTS WENT OUT!!!!!!  
  
"AAAHHHHHH!!!!!" Nagi screamed and hurled himself onto Farfarello,   
who accidentally sliced his arm. But the Irish man didn't mind since he   
liked slicing himself open.  
  
Tot clung to Neu and began to cry.  
  
"Oh would you sluts FUCK OFF!!!" Schulderich howled. He'd always   
been...touchy when it came to the dark.  
  
"Hell! What are you doing?" Shoen yelled, upset. "I'm trying to brush   
my hair. Tot's bunny gave it static cling!"  
  
The surprise in Hell's voice wasn't feigned. "But I didn't do that!" she   
cried.  
  
"You lying bitch! I'm going to shoot you!" Crawford barked, not taking   
into account that it was pitch black.  
  
"But I'm not lying!" Hell insisted, starting to get scared.  
  
"You just try it bifocals!" Neu snarled, pissed off because Tot was   
crying. "And I'll shove that gun straight up your ass!"  
  
Schulderich suddenly developed a nosebleed.  
  
Their bickering was interrupted by an evil maniacal laughter that leapt   
off the walls and echoed all throughout the old house.  
  
"MU~FAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAFAAAAAAAAAA!!!! YOU ALL   
WILL DIE!"   
  
"Dying hurts God."   
  
~*~The End~*~  
  
Happy Halloween Minna san!  
  



End file.
